Seychelles-Style Coconut Chicken Curry

Coconut Chicken Curry is a delicious, slightly spicy curry recipe. Creamy curry with the exotic flavors of the Seychelles Islands. A gluten-free dinner that comes together quickly and easily.

Spring has recoiled a bit in Colorado so what was feeling like a path headed for sleeveless spring Easter frocks and planting seeds for our late spring and early summer gardens has turned back toward toasty fires and down jackets for the time being. It very well may be altogether different tomorrow! I find my food cravings ebb and flow at this time of year with the seasonal changes too. One day it’s salad, the next day soup; and round and round we’ll go until May most likely.

Warm-Spiced Coconut Chicken Curry

Today’s recipe is a bit of a hybrid. Well, sort of. Seychelles-Style Coconut Chicken Curry. I would gladly eat curry all year round and love exploring the different origins which each bear slightly different spices. It’s a warming, deeply spiced dish however this version is from a tropical paradise! I shared an authentic Nonya Curry early on which was a take home recipe from my time living in Singapore. I’ve other curry recipes such as Chicken and Corn Curry, The Best Butternut Squash Curry, and Slow Cooker Thai Red Chicken Curry with Coconut Milk because I love the flavors so much. This curry is another to add to your collection.

Seychelles-Style Coconut Chicken Curry recipe was actually thanks to a French class project of my high school daughter and a classmate. She has taken six years of French and her current teacher (who is French) prompted the students to pick a food from a French-speaking country, make it while creating a video (in French) of them cooking it including facts about the country, and then they would all share the foods they make in class.

My daughter chose the Seychelles, which turned out to be both fascinating and a challenge to nail down a recipe with ingredients we could find locally. I should back up and share that the Seychelles are a series of 115 islands of the east coast of Africa; north of Madagascar, directly east of Tanzania and Kenya and is a beachy, tropical location. The cuisine is influenced by England, China, India, France and Africa with flavors of ginger, tamarind and coriander being prominent in their recipes. Locals tend to eat from the indigenous bounty of fresh fruits, fish (which includes shark), and even bats (though apparently not endangered bat species; love turning a school project into a blog post).

Coconut chicken curry is made very similarly to many curries; sautéing onions, garlic and ginger, adding the spices and allowing those to become fragrant before tossing in the main protein. There is nothing that smells better in a kitchen (if you love curry!). The main thing differentiating this curry are the spices. Many are common, but there are some additions to make ‘four spice’ (or quatres éspices), and a pinch of saffron that greatly adds a signature flavor.

We changed a few things to make a version of this coconut chicken curry recipe stay on the course of an authentic Seychelles-style curry, but to be able to be made with more available ingredients. Cinnamon leaves are often used and we added cinnamon to the curry and used a bay leaf which is a close substitute. For curry leaves we used a Kaffir lime leaf. They can be found at most Asian grocery stores and have a distinct lime-life flavor often found in Thai food. If that is not available to you, the zest of half a lime may be substituted as well. Lastly we broke down the individual spices found in quatres éspices, a staple in many French kitchens; white pepper, nutmeg, ground ginger and ground cloves.

How to Make Coconut Chicken Curry:

Note: Saffron is a bit pricy, but a little goes a long way. Store well covered in a dark, cool, dry area.

This gave me a good laugh Margot! Understanding the cost of saffron you’d appreciate that when researching recipes ideas that the girls could actually make with ingredients in the U.S., they came upon a curry recipe also with saffron. When my daughter showed it to me I noted it contained 1 TABLESPOON of saffron. I told her I was sure it was an error. First of all can you imagine the taste?! When I showed it to my husband he laughed and remarked it would be the most expensive curry ever made with that amount. It also called for ‘coconut leaves’. We searched and searched and all we could find was palm fronds and nothing about them being edible. We then realized it was suppose to be coconut MILK. Clearly whoever did the translating needed a proofreader!

A friend recently traveled to Thailand and brought back a huge package of saffron. I was in awe of the size of it, though you could tell the quality of the threads was not as good as what I buy in tiny amounts here.

I love eating curry but have never tried my hand at making it and tend to eat it while traveling or at a restaurant, I would love to try making this Seychelles-Style Coconut Chicken Curry Recipe, thanks for sharing!

Toni, I just found this recipe when I was looking for something else. I’m curious to know you much dried curry leaves you would use in place of the kaffir lime leaf? I actually have dried curry leaves in my pantry. I found them online at The Spice House. They are also used a lot in Sri Lankan cooking (a very tasty cuisine). I actually got to go to the Seychelles about 5 years ago, and am going back next year. A very nice place to visit, and very beautiful.

My family LOVES this recipe. I have made it both with chicken and lamb and the lamb is so wonderful with this spice profile. Tonight I’m trying it as a soup with ground lamb, increasing the coconut milk and adding broth. I will add the potatoes and rice right into the soup.

Primary Sidebar

About Me

Welcome! I’m Toni. My goal is to MAKE YOUR LIFE EASIER with great tested recipes and travel tips! More About Me …

Search Boulder Locavore

Search this website

Archives

Archives

Footer

Boulder Locavore is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.